Writing fiction is no walk in the park when work gets turned down, but no writer escapes rejection. In fact, some of the best-loved and most famous authors in the world went through deeply painful rejections before moving on to find success and critical acclaim. Explore the lighter side of being told no way, and find out why rejection isn’t so bad.
No Writer Escapes Rejection
Marketing fiction can be an intense undertaking. First, it’s necessary to come up with that great idea. Then comes the long business of actually researching and writing the manuscript. Once this beautiful masterwork is completed (and it seems more than capable of selling a billion copies), it’s time to start sending out those all-important query letters. What follows next is often a torrent of rejection and painful disappointment. But don’t worry - no writer, no matter how great, ever fully escape rejection.
Celebrated author Rudyard Kipling was told “you don’t know how to use the English language” by San Francisco’s Examiner editor. The Diary of Anne Frank, today taught in schoolrooms across the United States, was also rejected - the letter stated that “the girl” (Anne) didn’t have a special perception of feeling. Famed SciFi novelist H. G. Wells was told his War of the Worlds was “an endless nightmare,” and The Time Machine was said to be “not interesting enough for the general reader.”
Dr. Seuss, Jacqueline Susann, and William Faulkner were all rejected before they enjoyed celebrated careers. In a rejection sent to Faulkner, the publisher wrote “Good God, I can’t publish this!” Lord of the Flies was called “an absurd and uninteresting fantasy,” and poet/novelist Sylvia Plath was told she didn’t have enough genuine talent. Even Stephen King’s Carrie and George Orwell’s Animal Farm were rejected, because publishers said each book dealt on topics which wouldn’t sell.
Getting Over It
Instead of looking at those rejections as painful denials, think of them as the key to exclusive membership in a very large club. If great writers can be rejected, then it’s something any writer in the world might face. In fact, getting a rejection letter actually places writers in august company. Think of rejection letters not as negative replies but as a rite of passage. Every writer, even the best of the bunch, faces rejection. That means you will, too.
KC Morgan - KC Morgan has been the featured writer in Self-Employment since 2006, using personal experience to create guides to being self-employed.
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